Designed to present a portion of the Gospel narrative to fans of mixed martial arts fighting and heavy metal music, the biblical drama “The Carpenter” (Purdie) adds a whole new meaning to the term muscular Christianity. Think “Rocky” meets a small-scale version of “The Greatest Story Ever Told.”
Here, the Rocky Balboa stand-in is Oren (Kameron Krebs), a burly fellow from Cana. With the help of his brother, Levi (Kaulin Krebs), who doubles as his trainer, Oren is working his way up from local bouts to a big-city championship.
While devoting his spare time to the ring, Oren takes on the role of apprentice to Yeshua (Jeff Dickamore), a gentle Nazarene carpenter with miraculous healing powers. Known for his charitable works, Yeshua has more to teach Oren than mere craftsmanship.
As Oren absorbs Yeshua’s life lessons, he falls for and romances one of the beneficiaries of Yeshua’s generosity, young widowed mom Mira (Aurora Florence). He’s also taught how to use medical knowledge against his opponents by local physician Amos (Andre Jacobs) whose knowledge of the workings of various body parts seems suspiciously advanced for AD 29.
Well-intentioned and good-hearted, director and co-writer (with the Krebs) Garrett Batty’s naive production blithely flouts history with a series of such anachronisms. Thus the winner of the “Jerusalem Invitational” is awarded a broad golden belt after the referee lifts his arm in triumph.
Still, Dickamore presents an appealing interpretation of Jesus’s personality. And, a single euphemism about body parts aside, “The Carpenter” is predictably free of problematic material, making it wholesome, if not always smooth, family fare.
The film contains pugilistic violence and a vague anatomical reference. The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
